Review: Fingersmith

Fingersmith, Sarah Waters

[Fingersmith is a 2002 (Publisher virago) historical crime novel set in the Victorian Era by Sarah Waters.]

Where to start? I have said that before, this time I have actually started several times, each from a different direction, each failing to give a satisfactory result. What I want to achieve is for you to read my words and say to yourself “I really want to read that.” It sounds, entertaining /informative / exciting / it can’t really be that bad. Any one of those would do.

Cutting to the chase. This is a very readable book. Read it for the convoluted plot, for the human stories, for the historical background, even for the L part of LGBT content. The group scored this book highly.

Helpful points, (how arrogant to say helpful). A “Fingersmith” is a pick pocket, a thief: Lant Street is in South London and Dickens (1812-1870) lived there for a while in 1824, when his father was in debtors prison: It is in the area known as “the Borough”, and that is in the area better known as Southwark.

Set in Victorian times in South London, mostly. Well it feels like Victorian times, from what I know from other writers. But Victoria was 1819 to 1901, so that gives a pretty wide time frame. Susan is sometimes called Suki after Suki Tawdrey, a prostitute in The Beggars Opera of 1728 (it played for 62 performances, which made it very popular.) Has that anything to do with this story? Not really except that I was so interested in the story that I actually did a bit of history reading on it, and I had assumed “The Beggars Opera” to be much later, and was Macheath alluded to as “Gentleman” in the Fingersmith? Ah here I go again looking for a connection where none exist, trying to make sense of the world, reduce entropy. Actually there are enough factual reports of Lant Street at that time to make many connections between this novel and real life.

It is a big book 550 pages, but do not be put off, there is no competition to finish it, just enjoy the pages you are reading. You will be lead a merry dance, you will not be bored, even if squeamishness (Scrabble word score 27) on a topic, would normally make you stop reading, it is covered in such a way that you will read on.

The first line of the book is “My name, in those days, was Susan Trinder.” Got you in the first line “in those days” and Susan. Now we want to know what, why and why? After 509 pages, Chapter 17, starts with the same line, maybe now we are getting to the truth, or are we?

The plot? Oh what a plot! Who did what to whom, and why. Who was the good guy, who was bad, answer, they all were both. You will love this rogue, but they are good; you will dislike this good person, but they are bad. This is the victim, no they are the perpetrator, and this perp is a victim. There might be only one fully bad person, and maybe only one fully good, as far as we know. A bit like “Life” really. But though it is a convoluted plot, you will not feel cheated by having facts withheld, you are seeing just one part of the complexity at a time.

The “Daily Mail” would say this is a story of greed and lust, and so it is, if you want to read it that way but there is so much more. Sarah Waters was asked on a BBC4 Book Club in 2004, do you think that your readers will find this erotic? She replied, “I hope so” (You can hear it on BBC archives. Thank you “Auntie Beeb”).

Is it a detective story? Sort of. You are the detective trying to make sense of it all, and just when you have it all worked out, the serpent twists and you find that what you thought was A was actually B. Later B might even become C, and why not? This is life.

Was there redemption for anyone? I think not, was there need for it? They were all just people getting along as best they could. Even when hard done by, they still survived, not unscathed, but functioning.

Our group asked; who could you trust? Answer, nobody, not even at the last, trust has been betrayed but still they would go on, love was still there.

One quote we picked out, on page 525. “How should I do on my own? I might, I suppose, take a regular job, at a dairy, a dyer's, a furriers- The very thought of it, however, made me want to be sick. Everyone in my world knew that regular work was only another name for being robbed and dying of boredom. I would rather stay crooked.” Just one of many “bon mot” to think on.

Did anyone “live happily ever after”? Maybe, I hope they did.

I do not feel that I have done any justice to the skill of Sarah Waters in making all the characters and places real and alive. I am sorry, I can do no better. I only ask you to read this book, you will gain from it.